Rethinking A Movie or Two

My wife has the ability to clearly boil issues down to their bare bones. That does not mean to say that she sees the world in black and white or that she is afraid to admit that grey does indeed exist. It just means she means she knows how and for what she has committed to live her life and now she looks at nearly everything though those lenses.

...which got me to thinking about movies recently. My wife's rule which largely governs whether she'll watch a movie or not is part of a verse out of Psalm 101:3. It reads, "I will set before my eyes no vile thing." For my bride, that decides it. If it is vile, she won't look at it. During the last 9 years and 11 months of marriage, I've seen her get up and leave the room or the movie theatre once the vile stuff begins. A number of years ago, I heard a preacher say that "too many times, we enjoy, even pay money, to watch people commit sins that Jesus died to forgive." That really got me. I might be stingy with my money when a beggar on the street asks for some or when that missionary comes round (again) asking for help but I'm running, not walking, to the box office to plop down $8 so I can watch people commit sins that God hated so much he gave Jesus to die for. Something is big time outta whack with that. My wife's silent statement and this preacher's eloquent statement both have me thinking again about what I put in front of my eyes.

Somehow, I seem to justify watching nearly any movie (nearly, mind you) under the guise of being culturally relevant or in tune with the times or aware of what the world is asking or talking about. I'm really forced to rethink those stances of mine right now. King David knew the power of putting the right and the wrong things before his eyes. Much of his life was shaped by what became the fruit in his life of the things that passed in front of him.

Knowing me (and I know me pretty well), I've got to be militant about what I put in front of my eyes because I know my enemy is militant about the same.

So, be culturally informed. Please! We need more of that. I hold that as a very high value in my life and ministry. Read, listen, learn, interview, and observe what our culture(s) are thinking and saying about life, God, faith, and eternity. Discern wisely entry points into their lives based on what you've learned. Just don't be so fast to run buy a ticket to every "must see" movie that is the end all say all statement of where our post mod society is.

Wisdom, not Hollywood, rightly discerns the times and wisdom is free for the asking.